Upper School

Thank you for everything. Your love and compassion. Your effort and thrills. I have been on an incredible journey here. I've learnt things about myself I will never forget. I take these things with me everywhere. I have become a better person and it is because of all of you. I cannot thank you enough. You've helped me become a better me. — Class of 2015 alum

Welcome to Upper School

As stated above, the Miami Country Day Upper School is a special place that will create a lifetime of memories, both inside and outside the classroom. The faculty works tirelessly with its students to help them to become lifelong learners, critically thinking scholars, athletes, musicians, thespians, artists, community advocates, and global citizens. Through its strong and diverse program, the Upper School provides numerous opportunities for students to demonstrate their individual strengths and develop their potential. The demanding college-preparatory program, which includes 27 Honors and 21 Advanced Placement courses in each discipline and a diverse selection of electives, prepares students for the college and university learning environment. To see our 2018-19 course offerings, please click here.

The curriculum is designed to inform, challenge, and stimulate students as they are being prepared for college and lifelong learning. The focus is not only on the content of the liberal arts, but also on the acquisition of skills that will enable young people to solve varying problems in an ever-changing world. Courses are designed to actively engage students in the learning process, to build ongoing relationships with faculty and peers, and to achieve academic independence as a hallmark of their endeavors.

Senior Project

The Senior Project program is the capstone of the Upper School educational experience, providing students with the opportunity to pursue individual interests in the form of a 3-week, independent, off-campus, experiential internship. By expanding their personal limits and exploring new horizons in the Senior Project, students gain valuable life lessons that will stay with them forever.

List of 1 items.

The Senior Project Program is the capstone of the upper school educational experience providing students with the opportunity to pursue individual interests in the form of independent, off-campus experiential internships. The intentions of the Senior Project include the following:

to provide opportunities for the student to expand his/her learning experiences outside the traditional classroom setting;

to explore some area of interest to the student that is beyond the scope of the school’s curriculum;

to expose the student to the responsibilities of being a working professional;

to provide useful, productive service to the community.

The Senior Project program is an extension of the school's Mission Statement that learning is more than the acquisition of facts and also an extension of the school's commitment to providing its students with challenging and rewarding experiences. Our Mission Statement recognizes that the school believes in the education of the whole person. To this end the Miami Country Day community acknowledges that every individual is endowed with six potentials: the intellectual, spiritual, social, aesthetic, physical, and emotional.

We believe that community leaders, business people, artists, scientists, doctors, attorneys, and designers, to name just a few, have much to contribute to a student's overall education. Additionally, Miami Country Day recognizes the need to help our students realize the importance of qualities such as discipline, punctuality, responsibility, and attention to detail that characterize a successful professional career. The Senior Project has been designed to encourage students to expand their personal limits and to explore new horizons.

As with all new ventures, the Senior Project will make new demands on a student's time and efforts. We strongly urge parents to be participating partners in the planning stages of the Senior Project Proposal. All parties involved must understand that Miami Country Day takes this program very seriously. The potential rewards are enormous, but only if the highest possible standards are maintained.

Community Service

At Miami Country Day School we believe that it is our spiritual and civic duty to serve others in need. Service to others should be meaningful and personally relevant and should lead to attainable and visible outcomes that are valued by those being served. Keeping this in mind, service hour requirements have changed.

Country Day requires each student to complete a minimum of 25 hours of community service each year for a nonprofit agency.

Service hours are a graduation requirement and must be documented properly to be accepted. Students should ask the non-profit agency where they are working to write a brief letter on the agency letterhead, explaining the task done and the hours given.

X-Term

X-Term offers Upper School students the opportunity to explore a whole child passion not typically found in the traditional curriculum. Opportunities exist on campus, in the greater Miami community, and at domestic and international locations. X-Term transports students to experiential endeavors where the real world serves as the classroom and education is reimagined. X-Term supports the Miami Country Day School mission and its core values by enhancing the opportunities each student has to become a lifelong learner.

List of 1 items.

Over the past eight years, Minimester has become one of Miami Country Day School’s signature programs, and X-Term is prepared to take it to the next level. Falling under the GATEway umbrella, X-Term will continue the experiential and educational opportunities that Upper School students have come to love since 2011, but will now seek even more ways to reimagine that experience, to provide clear deliverables, and to take our students to new heights - whether they are local or halfway around the world. From a new sister school student exchange opportunity in Helsinki, Finland to the study of architectural design right here in Miami, and studying marine science in Bermuda to practicing holistic wellness here in Miami, this catalog is chock full of experiences for you to peruse - both new courses and the classic options enjoyed by former students.

Miami Country Day School is a college preparatory learning community committed to educating the whole child. Through the core values of honor, respect, wisdom and compassion, we prepare students to be lifelong learners. We inspire our children to develop their intellectual, physical, aesthetic, social, emotional and spiritual potentials by valuing every student every day.